Animation On the Internet - Creating It and Distributing It!
Meet key industry leaders in two power packed panels! AWN's Dan Sarto will
present "THE NEXT WAVE: ANIMATION ON THE INTERNET" at the Animation Expo on
Saturday, March 4, 1:00 PM - 5:30 PM. A panel of leading animators and
industry experts will discuss current opportunities and future
possibilities for the creation and distribution of animation on the
Internet. Session 1 will focus on THE TOOLS, TECHNIQUES AND TECHNOLOGIES
being used to create web-based animated content. With so much focus on
Free Slide Lecture with Prestigious Life Drawing Instructor Glenn Vilppu
On Saturday, March 4, 2000, world class life drawing master Glenn Vilppu
will present "On the Tails of Anders Zorn, Carl Larsson and P.S. Kroyer in
Scandinavia" at the Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists Union (MPSC Local
839), North Hollywood, California. To attend this free event, please call
(661) 269-1726 or (818) 994-2402. Glenn Vilppu will also present his tour
of Denmark and Sweden, scheduled July 10-21, 2000. When traveling through
major cities, Vilppu will lecture on the local art. Artists, photographers
Volunteer at TAIS and See The Lion King For Free!
TAIS, the Toronto Animated Image Society, and Operation Herbie of the
Hospital for Sick Children Foundation presents a premiere performance of
Disney's "The Lion King" on April 6, 2000...
Plympton's Comic of the Week
Plympton's new series of comics extracted from the comic book, "Sleazy
Cartoons of Bill Plympton," is for ADULTS ONLY...
This Week's Animation Trivia Quiz
Test your skills and challenge your brain with AWN's Animation Trivia
Quiz...
Store Special: Another rare collection of artwork from the 1930s
Ten pieces of art have been added to the Tooniversal catalog...
Entertaindom Orders More The God & Devil Show
Entertaindom.com, Time Warner's on-line entertainment destination, has
picked up 17 additional episodes of its smash hit, THE GOD & DEVIL SHOW
from Mondo Media, a leading creator and distributor of serial-based
animated content. THE GOD & DEVIL SHOW, an animated weekly "talk show"
launched on Entertaindom in November. Each week the show features hosts God
and the Devil interviewing then deciding the eternal fates of various
"celebrity" guests (including impersonations of Keith Richards, Bill Gates,
God The Devil And Bob Website
On February 14, 2000, the GOD THE DEVIL AND BOB Website launched to promote
the new series which debuts on NBC on Thursday, March 9, 2000 at 8:30 pm.
The series is produced by Carsey-Werner, the creators of 3RD ROCK FROM THE
SUN, THAT '70S SHOW and COSBY. GOD THE DEVIL AND BOB, created by Matthew
Carlson, centers around Bob Alman, a Detroit auto plant worker who has been
chosen by God to prove the world is worth saving after God and the Devil
J. Stuart Blackton Screening
* Wednesday, March 1, 2000. Hollywood, California, U.S.A.
In celebration of the 125th anniversary of J. Stuart Blackton, The Silent
Society of Hollywood Heritage, Inc. and the International Animated Film
Society, ASIFA-Hollywood, are presenting a program highlighting this motion
picture and animation pioneer. A diverse sampling of works by the medium's
first director-producer-animator and actor will be featured, all drawn from
Stuart Little Team At AFI
* Thursday, March 2, 2000.
An Evening with STUART LITTLE, presented by ASIFA-Hollywood and AFI. Henry
Anderson and the STUART LITTLE/Sony Pictures Imageworks team will present a
lively discussion of the performance aspects of the animation, plus some of
the technical as well. The program concludes with a screening of STUART
LITTLE. The event will take place at 7:30 PM at the Mark Goodson Theater on
2021 N. Western Ave. For more information contact ASIFA-Hollywood at: 725
Cartoon Seminar
* Thursday, March 9, 2000 - Saturday, March 11, 2000. Madrid, Spain.
Cartoon, the European producers organization, will present a seminar on
"how to negotiate with the U.S.A., Canada, Australia and Japan."
Discussions will focus on the structures, customs and constraints of the
fore mentioned markets. After an introduction on each country, the various
policies on international co-productions will be discussed. A question and
March's WIA Writers' Group
* Thursday, March 9, 2000. Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
This month's Women In Animation Writers' Group Seminar will be held at 7:30
pm at Saban Entertainment, 10960 Wilshire Blvd. (corner of Midvale). The
discussion centers around the outline, the scene, and animation terms. Fee:
US$5 to cover costs. RSVP to Jean Ann Wright required. Tel.: (818)
360-8321 or E-mail: jjwright@gte.net(link sends e-mail). For more information on WIA events,
please visit the Website at
WIA, Inc. General Meeting
* Saturday, February 26, 2000. Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
Women In Animation, Inc. will be holding their annual meeting with guest
speaker Lynda Weinman of lynda.com. The meeting introduces members and
anyone interested in WIA with what has happened in the past year and what
exciting events and activities are on the way for 2000. Weinman, a pioneer
of graphics and animation on the MAC, will bring to the event her knowledge
German EM.TV Acquires The Muppets
Munich-based EM.TV & Merchandising has acquired the Jim Henson Co. in a
cash and stock transaction valued at US$680 million. The German company now
owns the rights to the Muppets and Sesame Street characters. The purchase
gives EM.TV "some of the most powerful and enduring kids and family brands
worldwide and. . . access to the world's biggest and most important media
market," said Thomas Haffa, EM.TV CEO. "In addition, our investment in
Henson will give us a position in cable networks, which will open up new
Snow Falls At 3rd Again
The kid flick SNOW DAY, with special effects by Curious Pictures, settled
at third place for a second straight week at the U.S. box office. The
Paramount-produced flick grossed US$14.8 million over the President's Day
holiday weekend, bringing its cume to $31.5 million. USA Films release
PITCH BLACK finished at #4. Yet another ALIENS-esque sci-fi flick, PITCH
BLACK grossed $14 million. THE TIGGER MOVIE finished the weekend in fifth
place, making $10.5 million, bringing its cume to $22.3 million. Even
eBay To Auction Mickey's Merchandise
Disney's Go Network has inked a 4-year agreement with eBay making it the
exclusive on-line auction site for Walt Disney's Web properties. Under
terms of the deal, eBay and the Go Network will create two co-branded
auction sites -- one to provide person to person transactions, the other
merchant to consumer sales, featuring goods from Disney's properties and
ESPN, among others. Disney will market the two sites through its Go
Network, a portfolio of Web sites that includes Disney.com, ABC.com and
Rugrats: Burger King's Thanksgiving Whopper
Burger King, a leading hamburger chain, has decided to back RUGRATS IN
PARIS with a licensing campaign to coincide with the film's Thanksgiving
release. Burger joint cross promotion of films released in the holiday
season means big money for both parties. Burger King opted to work out a
deal with the Nickelodeon/Paramount sequel to RUGRATS: THE MOVIE, which it
backed in 1998, instead of DR. SEUSS' HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS,
starring Jim Carrey. Insiders say Burger King may drop US$20 million into
Riots Raises Roster With New Producer and CGI Artist
RIOT, a digital effect house, breaks out with the naming of a new visual
effects producer ALIX EGLIS and visual effects artist CLAUS HANSEN. As a
freelancer, Eglis has produced commercials for Santa Monica,
California-based Crew Cuts and Lost Planet. For Culver City,
California-based Mars Media, she produced the R&B group, TLC's "Unpretty"
video and Will Smith's "Wild, Wild West" video. Eglis will oversee projects
for Riot, acting as a liaison from the client to the artists. Prior to
Radium Expands Santa Monica Branch's Roster
RADIUM has expanded its Santa Monica office roster with a new head of
production JONATHAN WHITEHEAD and visual effects artists MARK HOLMES and
CHRISTINE RIVARD. Whitehead will oversee the daily operation of the Santa
Monica branch including client relations, bidding, marketing, personnel and
line producing. For the last six years, Whitehead was an executive producer
at Saatchi & Saatchi, primarily working on ads for Toyota. Whitehead's
feature film producing credits include GHOSTBUSTERS II, THE ABYSS, STEEL
Vivid Animation Stops Production
Jeff Lotman, CEO of Vivid Animation and Virtual Celebrity Productions,
announced that the company has closed operations. "Vivid, which had just
completed its first commercial project, for MasterCard, will no longer
accept commercial projects," said Lotman who has decided to focus all of
his energies and resources on his two-year-old licensing and merchandising
company Global Icons. "Global Icons is growing faster than I had hoped and
the potential is so great that it demands all of my attention at this
A New Cubicle For Dilbert On The Net
After UPN put DILBERT on an indefinite hiatus which starts March 14, the
producers of the cartoon series announced it would broadcast an episode of
the show along with rare outtakes on the Net. The 22-minute previously
aired episode entitled "The Merger" will air commercial-free on the Web
from February 17 - 29, 2000. Columbia/TriStar, who produces the show, will
become only the second major studio to enter into the Netcasting arena. In
November of 1999, Warner Bros. simulcast parts of an episode of "The Drew
Los Kitos Comic Strip To Become TV Series
The Krislin Company has gained the rights to produce an animated TV series
based off of Los Kitos Entertainment's LOS KITOS comic strip. Currently
running in more than 200 newspapers worldwide, the strip, created by
Colombian-born Martha Montoya, addresses the concerns of Hispanics and
other immigrant groups and highlights cultural awareness. Walt Kubiak,
president of the Krislin Company said, "We are very excited about our
association with LOS KITOS and look forward to introducing this fine
An Extremely Goofy Movie Stumbles Into Stores
On February 29, 2000, Disney will debut its new direct-to-video feature
entitled AN EXTREMELY GOOFY MOVIE. The new Goofy flick follows Goofy and
his son Max as they both go off to college. Goofy brings some old-fashioned
ideas along that embarrass young Max. But all bets are off as both father
and son compete in the "College X Games," an extreme sports competition.
The VHS tape will be priced at US$24.99 and the DVD will be $29.99. An
added bonus is the short entitled KIDS' GOOFIEST JOKES, a collection of
Catch Pokemon: The First Movie On Video
On March 21, 2000, POKEMON: THE FIRST MOVIE will hit stores across the U.S.
Every DVD and video will feature a sneak preview of this summer's new
theatrical film POKEMON THE MOVIE 2000 plus THE STORY OF MEWTWO'S ORIGIN.
To promote the video release, five special "Golden Tickets" will be
included in random VHS packages. The five lucky recipients will win a
first-edition starter set of Team Rocket game cards, a trip for two to
Japan, a meeting with Mr. Ishihara, creator of the POKEMON card game and a
LucasArts Brings Their Far, Far Away Galaxy To Dreamcast
Sega of America announced that LucasArts Entertainment Company LLC has
become a new third party publisher for the Sega Dreamcast. Scheduled to
ship Spring 2000, STAR WARS: EPISODE I RACER will be the first LucasArts
title to hit Dreamcast. LucasArts is committed to providing additional
titles in the future, adding to Sega's long list of third party publishers
and developers for Sega Dreamcast. Taking advantage of Dreamcast's Internet
capabilities, STAR WARS: EPISODE I RACER will allow gamers to post high
